Temperature-Stable Integrated Computational Element Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical computing devices, such as integrated computational elements (ICEs), face challenges in maintaining prediction accuracy due to environmental fluctuations like temperature, pressure, and humidity, especially in extreme conditions like those found in the oil and gas industry, leading to spectral shifts and inaccurate predictions.
Innovation Solution
A methodical mathematical approach is used to design and fabricate ICE components by generating theoretical designs, sorting them based on performance criteria, calculating the effect of temperature shifts, and selecting designs with favorable temperature stability for fabrication, ensuring robustness against environmental changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ICE components are designed to operate in extreme environmental conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity), then the reliability of the optical computing device is improved, but the spectral accuracy deteriorates due to material refractive index fluctuations and layer thickness changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the physical parameters of the ICE component, specifically the thickness of optical layers and refractive indices, to compensate for environmental variations. By adjusting these parameters during design, the component maintains spectral accuracy across a range of temperatures and pressures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary computational modeling and simulation to predict how the ICE component will respond to environmental changes before fabrication. This allows the design to be optimized in advance to resist spectral shifts under expected operating conditions.
2Measurement precision
If the number of optical layers in the ICE design is increased to improve spectral selectivity, then the measurement precision is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the parameters of each optical layer (thickness, refractive index) to achieve the desired spectral selectivity with a reduced number of layers. By carefully tuning these parameters, the design achieves high measurement precision while minimizing manufacturing complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the ICE design is optimized for high spectral accuracy under controlled conditions, then the measurement precision is improved, but the adaptability to environmental variations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the ICE component with adjustable optical parameters that can be tuned to maintain spectral accuracy across different environmental conditions. This allows the same component to adapt to varying temperatures, pressures, and humidities while preserving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an ICE design that functions effectively across multiple environmental conditions, making it universally applicable. The component is designed to maintain its spectral accuracy whether operating in controlled laboratory conditions or extreme field environments.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly increases the predictability of ICE components from approximately 20% to near 100%, enabling them to operate reliably in fluctuating environments without requiring expert selection, and is applicable across various industries including oil and gas, food, and drug industries.
Implementation Method 1
An ICE design refers to the number and thickness of the respective layers of the ICE component. The layers may be strategically deposited and sized so as to selectively pass predetermined fractions of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths configured to substantially mimic a regression vector
Implementation Method 2
An ICE typically includes a plurality of optical layers consisting of various materials whose index of refraction and size (e.g., thickness) may vary between each layer
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are optical design techniques for generating environmentally resilient optical elements used in optical computing devices. One method for designing an integrated computational element (ICE) includes generating a plurality of theoretical ICE designs with a design suite stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, each theoretical ICE design being configured to detect a characteristic of interest and comprising one or more layers, sorting the theoretical ICE designs based on performance criteria of each theoretical ICE design and thereby identifying one or more predictive ICE designs, calculating a theoretical effect of a temperature shift on each predictive ICE design, and selecting for fabrication one or more predictive ICE designs based on favorable temperature stability.